Chapter 8 Summoning the Soul

  "What kind of small tripod?"

  Gai stretched out his palm and compared the size, saying: "It was right here, there was a tripod of this size. As soon as you came in, it disappeared."

  I also find it strange that a small cauldron the size of a palm, suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared. The cauldron is not a living thing, how can it grow legs and run away by itself?

  The old man said: "Seriously search for it, this small tripod might be the key to this case!"

  Gale and I immediately started searching, after the old god entered the bedroom, the room changed, it was no longer gloomy and terrifying. There were just two corpses lying quietly at the door of the room.

  According to Lao Shengui's words, we carefully searched the bedroom, without leaving any corner unturned, but still couldn't find the small tripod.

  Lao Shen said: "Forget it, can't find it. Send the body back to the bureau. You two will have to work overtime tonight, I'll do an autopsy, and you two help me with it."

  "Isn't autopsy a forensic doctor's job?" Grey asked in surprise.

  "Remember, Zero Team's cases have always been self-examined, the forensic doctors in the bureau won't handle our cases. Even if there are problems with the autopsy, don't look for the forensic doctors in the bureau."

  This rule is really too weird, we seriously remember it.

  "Alright, there's nothing for you here, leave now, don't disturb the scene." The old man said.

  I and Ge Lei felt relieved, stepped over the corpse and ran downstairs. When we reached the staircase, I heard Lao Shen Gun say: "Call the bureau to let them come and take away the corpse."

  "We don't know the number!"

  "You're so stupid! Why don't you call the headquarters and ask?" Old God Stick shouted.

  I pulled Ge Lei out of the haunted house, I made a call, and in less than ten minutes, I heard the sound of police sirens, the body-collecting vehicle from the bureau arrived.

  It's said to be a case of the Zero Case Team, and the brothers who came to pull the body were very unwilling. According to their words, any case related to the Zero Case would be particularly unlucky.

  I was about to go upstairs when the security captain stopped me and asked: "Little brother, what's going on up there?"

  "Two thieves died, as for the cause of death it's inconvenient to reveal." I turned around and followed upstairs.

  Two bodies were soon carried out, but the old god stick didn't leave. He took us to thoroughly search the bedroom again, and still couldn't find any trace of Little Ding.

  Gale and I are certain what we saw just now was not an illusion, it's real. Where did Little Ding go?

  The old man sighed and said: "Forget it, don't look for it anymore. It seems to be a spiritual thing, and it will reappear when the time is right."

  "Can we go now?" Grey asked. We didn't want to stay in this haunted house for another minute.

  "Stick this on and you can go." The old man took out two yellow papers from his pocket, with messy symbols drawn on them. He said to us, "Paste the talismans well, one every meter."

  Even colleagues called him Old God Stick, this case was very evil, we still followed his orders and posted the talismans on the walls of the bedroom, doors and windows. Old God Stick checked again before we left Xie Ping'an's haunted house.

  "We can go back and examine the body now." The old coroner seemed to be looking forward to the upcoming autopsy.

  We followed Lao Shenggui back to the police station. The moonlight tonight was cold and desolate, the large police station was pitch black, without a single sound.

  The old stick led us around the main building of the police station, and then through the cafeteria and dormitory. The farther we went, the more desolate it became. The roadsides were overgrown with weeds, which swayed gently in the night breeze.

  The more I looked at this place, the more it gave me the creeps. The old man stopped in front of a small two-story building.

  "This is the police station's morgue. You guys wait here for a moment while I go get some special autopsy tools."

  "Uh..." I was just about to speak up when the old man had already walked far away. His figure quickly disappeared from our line of sight.

  In the dead of night, we stood at the entrance of the morgue. The air was thick with the smell of death and conspiracy. Unlike a hospital, not one of the corpses in the rooms behind us had died a normal death; as the old saying goes, they were all "vindictive corpses".

  The door of the mortuary was ajar, and a gust of night wind blew through it, causing the door to creak. Faintly, I could still hear the hum of the refrigeration units, and the cacophony of sounds cut at my nerves.

  I turned around and looked inside through the gap in the door, and inside there was only a small green night light emitting a faint glow. I don't know why places where corpses are kept like to use this kind of green lighting, it looks very ominous.

  Under the dim green light, I saw two carts near the door, covered with white cloth, in a human shape. However, there was no head, and the wound on the neck was still oozing blood.

  This must be the bodies of those two unlucky thieves, I'm sure they're not ordinary thieves, their purpose is very strong, it's likely that they came for that Ding, but they didn't find it and lost their heads instead.

  "Say something, it's too quiet," said Gray.

  I turned around and asked: "What do you think of Team Zero?" I had been wanting to ask him this question for a long time.

  "It doesn't feel bad, is the case interesting? I kind of like this job. How about you?" Grey's response was a bit unexpected.

  "It's okay, I guess!" Actually, I'm more interested in investigating cases. Being a police officer has always been my dream. But I'm not physically capable, and if I leave the Zero Number Special Case Group, I probably won't be able to become a police officer anymore, and I don't think I'll have another chance to investigate cases again.

  We had only chatted for a few sentences when the old fellow came back, holding a small grey cloth package in his hand. He walked to the doorway and said: "What are you standing at the door for? Why don't you come in?"

  For all corpses, a habituation process is required. We are criminal police, not professional forensic doctors, and this time, the number of times we have seen corpses does not exceed ten. A period of adaptation is always needed.

  Look at us not speaking, the old fellow directly pushed open the door and walked into the morgue with big strides. He said to us: "The work room is inside, you two push the corpse in."

  The old man was walking in front, and we followed behind him, each pushing a corpse. The morgue looked like it had been around for a long time. The corridor was lit with light bulbs that emitted a dim yellow glow. The walls were lined with old square tiles that reflected the light, making it somewhat dazzling. The air here was very humid, and water droplets had condensed on the tiles.

  The corridor was only a few meters long, and after turning the corner, I saw the workshop, which didn't even have a door. At a glance, I saw a metal workbench with some tools placed on it.

  I took a deep breath and caught a whiff of the faint stench, despite the liberal use of air fresheners. I knew that smell - it was the smell of death. There were dead bodies here every day, and no amount of air freshener could cover up that smell.

  The deeper I went, the lower the temperature was. I don't know if it's psychological or not, but I could feel a chill running down my collar and into my clothes.

  The old man stepped into the workroom first, took a deep breath and muttered to himself: "The resentment here is getting heavier again. If this goes on, something will happen sooner or later."

  "What resentment? What resentment?" Ge Lei asked curiously.

  "People who die unjustly have a lingering resentment, although they are dead, their souls will still linger in the mortal world for a period of time. The soul will wander around the corpse, thinking about its own miserable death, and resentment will arise. Resentment will accumulate more and more, if not handled properly, it will cause big trouble."

  This seriously subverted our cognition, looking at Lao Shen's serious appearance, I asked: "What kind of trouble will there be?"

  "You guys are quite curious." Lao Shen Gong said in detail: "If the resentment accumulates too much and is absorbed by a vengeful ghost with an unfulfilled heart, it will become a vengeful spirit, that's our trouble."

  Gale listened very seriously, but my attention was on the stretcher, just now, I felt that the corpse under the white cloth moved slightly.

  The old man glanced at the time and said: "It's almost dawn, let's get down to business, there's not much time left."

  I hastily asked: "Which side should we start from?"

  "It doesn't matter, it's all the same anyway."

  "Let's take this one then!" I pushed the car to the side of the workbench, and just now, the corpse moved again, but it seemed like only I saw it.

  We moved the body to the autopsy table together, and Lao Shen stretched out his hand to slowly unzip the zipper on the body bag. The headless corpse was exposed before our eyes, with uneven wounds on its neck, revealing the trachea and white bones. The cause of death was obvious, I didn't know what else Lao Shen wanted to autopsy.

  Under the light, the skin of the corpse presented an eerie grayish white color. The time of death had exceeded four hours, and a faint livor mortis had begun to appear. We lifted the body out of the body bag according to the old god stick's requirements.

  The old man opened his backpack, and I saw the things inside: an incense burner, sandalwood, candles, and talismans. I couldn't imagine how he would use these to perform an autopsy.

  "It's about to begin, watch closely." The old Taoist placed the incense burner at the head of the corpse, lit three sticks of incense and inserted them into the burner. He then took out several copper coins and placed one on each limb and torso.

  I looked very carefully, these copper coins are very rustic, and they look like they have been around for some years, but the patterns on the copper coins I've never seen before.

  "I'll give you one each, maybe you'll need it someday. This is a coin to ward off evil spirits, take it." The old Taoist priest tossed us each a copper coin and told us to keep it well.

  The autopsy has officially begun. The sandalwood is burning and releasing a faint scent, which calms our minds.

  The old man lit the two candles beside him, then turned off the lights in the workshop. The only source of light in the room was the two candles. The candle flames flickered, and the room seemed mysterious with its bright and dark changes.

  We retreated to one side, making way for the old man. He pinched his fingers into a strange hand seal, stomped his feet in an odd rhythm, and muttered to himself, but we couldn't make out what he was saying.

  "Is he summoning spirits?" Grey whispered in my ear.